Antero Niittymaki made 19 saves in his first career start, and John LeClair scored the go-ahead goal in the Philadelphia Flyer's 5-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
"I felt better than I thought I would in my first NHL game," Niittymaki said. "It was a pretty easy night. I only faced 15 shots or so in the first two periods and they were pretty easy shots."
Simon Gagne, Kim Johnsson, Mark Recchi and Keith Primeau also scored for the Flyers. Robert Lang scored for the Capitals.
PHOTO: EPA
Niittymaki, a 23-year-old Finn, got the start because Robert Esche sprained his left knee in a collision with Gagne on Monday. Esche is expected to be sidelined at least three weeks.
"He's technically sound and he did the right things with the puck," Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He kept it simple and we'll see how he looks tomorrow."
Jeff Hackett, Philadelphia's other experienced goalie, is sidelined indefinitely by vertigo.
Wild 4, Rangers 3
In New York, Sergei Zholtok scored the tying goal early in the third period, and Marian Gaborik added the winner with 6:26 left to rally Minnesota past the Rangers.
Zholtok also scored in the second period, and Antti Laaksonen added a goal for Minnesota. Jaromir Jagr scored twice and assisted on Petr Nedved's goal for the Rangers.
Stars 1, Blue Jackets 0
In Dallas, Jason Arnott scored on a backhander, and All-Star goalie Marty Turco stopped 18 shots to help Dallas extend its unbeaten streak to seven games.
Turco has five shutouts this season and 17 in his career.
The only score came with 13:01 left in the second period when Darren Oliver worked the puck along the board to Steve Ott, who then passed it to the front of the net for Arnott's 13th goal.
Panthers 5, Coyotes 4, OT
In Glendale, Arizona, Olli Jokinen scored his second power-play goal with 1:38 left in overtime for Florida.
Florida's Juraj Kolnik and Mike Van Ryn tied it with goals 28 seconds apart in the final 1:47, just after Paul Mara and Daymond Langkow scored 2:14 apart to give the Coyotes a 4-2 lead.
Eric Beaudoin also scored to help the Panthers snap a four-game winless streak. Chris Gratton and Daniel Cleary added goals for the Coyotes, and Shane Doan had three assists.
Blues 5, Oilers 3
In Edmonton, Alberta, Ryan Smyth scored twice to help Edmonton extend St. Louis' winless streak to eight games.
Radek Dvorak had a goal and an assist and Ethan Moreau also scored in Edmonton's four-goal second period.
Smyth added a goal in the third to clinch the Oilers' third victory in their last four games. Chris Pronger, Jamal Mayers and Keith Tkachuk scored for Blues.
Mighty Ducks 3, Hurricanes 2
In Anaheim, California, Samuel Pahlsson got the go-ahead goal for the Mighty Ducks with 4:23 left in the third period and Vaclav Prospal scored for the ninth time in 10 games as Anaheim edged Carolina.
Defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski had a goal and an assist, Jason Krog had two assists and Martin Gerber made 22 saves for the Ducks, who staggered to the All-Star break 13th in the Western Conference with a 17-23-8-7 record after coming within one victory of winning the Stanley Cup last June.
Josef Vasicek and a power-play goal and Erik Cole scored short-handed for the Hurricanes, 9-14-2 since Peter Laviolette replaced Paul Maurice as coach on Dec. 15.
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